Film holder for photographic enlargers



July 11,` 1944. C, 1 HUGHEY 2,353,241

FILM HOLDER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGERS Filed Sept, 26, 1942 23 37 35 26 27 3 v Y -v'f/,

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` /6 /8 a C CarzerJlNl/zggy TORN YS Patented July 1l, Y1944 FILM HOLDER FOR PHOTOGRAPHE) ENLARGERS Carter J. Hughey, Rochester, N. Y., assigner to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey [application September 26, 194.2, Serial No. 459,738

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to holders, and more particularly for lm holders for use in photographic enlargers.

One object oi the invention is the provision in such a holder of means yfor readily and easily separating the iilm holding or clamping members to permit the insertion or positioning of a -iilm or negative therebetween.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a separating means for the film clamping members which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, and highly eiective in use.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in theclaimsat the end of the specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a lm holder constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the holder illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View through the holder illustrated in Fig. l and taken substantially on line 3-3 thereof, and showing the relation of the holder parts when in the film clamping position; f

Fig. 4 i-s-a viewsimilar to Fig. 3, but showing the relation of the holder parts when the lm clamping members are separated to .permit the placing or positioning of the film or negative in the holders; and

Fig. 5 is a view of a portion .of the holder illustrated in Fig. 4 but on a larger scale than lthe latter to more clearly show the holding means for the operating lever.

Similar reference numerals throughout the various views indicate ythe same parts.

The drawing shows a iilm holder formed from any suitable material to provide a hollow rectangular frame or member Ii) having opposite side walls II and I2 and opposite end walls I3 and I4, and a central aperture I5 for framing the iilm or negative positioned in the holder. The under side of the walls II, I3, and I 4, are rabbeted out, as shown at IE, to provide a shoulder or ledge I'I against which a lower glass lm holding plate I8 may be xedly held and retained by strips I9 secured to the wall members by screws 20, or other suitable fastening means. This lower plate I8 extends over the full area of the aperture I5, and serves to support the lm, not shown, and an upper glass plate ZI with which it cooperates, when in position shown in Fig. 3, to tightly clamp a film or negative therebetween. The upper plate 2| also covers the aperture I5, and merely rests loosely on the lower plate I8 and is adapted to be moved relatively thereto about an edge 22 to separate the piates, as shown in Fig. 4, to permit the insertion or positioning of the iilm between the plates. The edge 22 thus forms, in effect, a hinge connection between the two plates I8 and 2l. The plate 2l is held in place by the walls il, l2, i3, and Ill, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The end wall I4 of the frame i3 has formed thereon a handle 23 by which the frame may be manipulated. This handle has formed therein a longitudinally extending slot 24 in which is pivotally mounted at 25 an operating lever 25 oi the shape best shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The lever 26 is formed with a @projecting portion or tongue 2l which extends into the aperture i5 and into a small cut-out portion or aperture formed in the lower glass plate I8 so that when the lever 2t is in its inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 3, the portion 2'I will lie in a plane of the lower plate I8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. r.The portion 2l is positioned under the upper plate 2| adjacent the edge 29 which is opposite the hinge edge 22.

it will now be apparent that when the lever 26 is pivoted or moved in a counter-clockwise direction about its point 25 from the .position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig.

. 4, the position 2l will move upwardly and engage the under surface 3l of the upper plate 2l adjacent the edge 29 thereof to move the plate 2i upwardly about its hinge edge 22 to separate the plates I8 and 2|, as shown in Fig. 4. When the .plates are in this separated position, a film or negative may be inserted in proper position between the plates. To facilitate the ready insertion of the lm between the plates, the upper edge of the sides Il and I2 of the frame Il) are cut away to provide aligned slots or recesses 32, the bottoms 33 of which are arranged substantially in alignment with the upper surface S of the lower plate I8, the advantages of which will be readily apparent.

When the lever 26 has thus been moved to the position shown in Fig. 4, a stop portion 35 thereon engages the bottom 35 of a recess 31 formed in the handle 23 at the end of the slot 24 to arrest or limit further counter-clockwise movement of the lever 26 and, hence, the upward movement of the upper plate 2l. Substantially simultaneously with the engagement of the stop portion 35 with the bottom 36, a spring-pressed ball 38 carried by the lever 26 engages a recess 39 formed in a plate 40 secured to the handle 23 at the end of slot 24 to releasably hold the lever in a plate elevating position, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. As the lever 26 is now held, both hands of the operator are iree to insert and position the lm in the holder or to remove a nlm therefrom.

After the lm has been positioned, the lever 26 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction about its pivot 25 to iirst release the ball 28 from the recess 29. The lever 26 and upper plate 2.| are then free and may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 to lower the plate 2i so that lthe latter may cooperate with the lower or bottom plate i8 to clamp the nlm. When this position is reached, the portion 2l of the lever 26 engages the end wall I4 to limit further clockwise movement of the lever. 36 of the recess 37 thus serves to provide stop or limiting means for movement of the lever 2G in opposite directions of its movement. As the handle 23 is integral with the frame iii, these stop members may be broadly considered as besertion or removal of a film. When the clamping plates are in open or separated position, they are so held by a releasable catch which may be readily disengaged to permit the closing of the clamping plate.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways. This application is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the `scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A nlm holder for photographic enla-rgers comprising, in combination, a flat frame formed with a central aperture, a pair of nlm clamping members carried by said frame and extending across said a erture and hingedly connected along one edge of said aperture, aligned recesses found on opposite edges of said frame adjacent i said one edge to facilitate the insertion of a film strip between said members, a handle formed at another edge of said frame opposite said one edge. a lever pivoted on said handle, a portion of said lever positioned under one of said members and adjacent said other edge and arranged to engage and move said one member to separate said members to facilitate the positioning of a lm therebetween when said lever is moved in one direction, the movement of the lever in the opposite direction serving to move said portion to rlhe wall I4 and the bottom allow said one member to move toward the other member and to cooperate therewith to clamp the film therebetween, and cooperating means on said handle and said lever to hold the latter when it has been moved in said one direction to retain the members in separated position.

2. A film holder for photographic enlargers comprising, in combination, a. hollow rectangular frame member formed to provide a central aperture, a pair of glass plates carried by said frame and extending across said aperture, means for xedly mounting one of said plates to said frame. the other of said plates being movable on the one plate about an edge thereof to permit said plates to be separated for the insertion and positioning of a lm therebetween, the opposite sides of said frame adjacent said one edge being formed with recesses to facilitate the movement of said film to and from a position between said plates, a handle formed on said frame on an edge opposite said one edge, a. lever pivotally mounted on said handle, a portion of said lever projecting into said aperture and positioned below said other plate opposite said one edge so that the pivotal movement of said lever in one direction will move said portion to lift the other plate about said one edge to separate said plates, and the pivotal movement of the lever in the opposite direction will move said portion so that said other plate will move toward and cooperate with said one plate to clamp the nlm, and spring pressed means carried by said lever and arranged to engage a cooperating part of said handle when. said lever is moved in said one direction to hold the plates in separated relation.

3. A film holder for photographic enlargers comprising in combination, a flat frame formed with a central aperture, a lower glass plate iixedly mounted in said aperture, an upper glass plate arranged in said aperture and loosely positioned on and supported by said lower plate and adapted to cooperate with the latter to clamp a iilm, aligned recesses formed in the opposite edges of said frame between said plates, a handle projecting from another edge of said frame, a member pivoted on said handle, a portion of said member extending under one edge of said upper plate adjacent said other edge, said portion being movable in one direction to lift said one edge to tip said upper plate on said lower plate to separate said plates to permit the insertion of said iilm therebetween, said portion being movable in the opposite direction to lower said upper plate toward said lower plate to clamp said iilm, cooperating means on said handle and member to releasably retain said portion in plate separating position, and parts on said handle and member for limiting the movement of said member.

CARTER J. HUGHEY. 

